A recent mean-field approach to the fractional quantum Hall effect (QHE) is reviewed, with a special emphasis on the application to single-electron tunneling through a quantum dot in a high magnetic field. The theory is based on the adiabatic principle of Greiter and Wilczek, which maps an incompressible state in the integer QHE on the fractional QHE. The single-particle contribution to the addition spectrum is analyzed, for a quantum dot with a parabolic confining potential. The spectrum is shown to be related to the Fock-Darwin spectrum in the integer QHE, upon substitution of the electron charge by the fractional quasiparticle charge. Implications for the periodicity of the Aharonov-Bohm oscillations in the conductance are discussed.